DISCIPLINED  YOUTH 


NECESSARY  FOR 


THE  DUTIES  OF  MIDDLE  LIFE 

AND  THE 


COMFORT  OF  OLD  AGE. 


A Sermon  founded  on  Lamentations,  iii.  27,  and  delivered  to  the  Young  People  of  the  Borough 
of  Bedford,  Pennsylvania,  on  Sabbath  night,  the  31st  of  December,  1837. 


BY  REV.  BAYNARD  R.  HALL,  A.  M. 

AUTHOR  OF  “ A NEW  AND  COMPENDIOUS  LATIN  GRAMMAR,”  &C. 


PHILADELPHIA! 
PRINTED  BY  I.  ASHMEAD  & CO. 


Rev.  Sir, — 

Having  listened  with  pleasure  to  the  eloquent  address,  delivered  by 
you,  on  last  evening,  to  “ the  young  people  of  Bedford  and  highly 
appreciating  the  justness  of  the  views  it  contained ; we  respectfully  solicit 
your  consent  to  its  publication,  in  order  to  give  it  as  wide  a circulation  as 
possible. 

A compliance  with  our  request  will  confer  a benefit  on  the  youth  of 
the  present  generation,  and  much  oblige, 

Very  respectfully,  your  humble  servants, 

A.  King, 

S.  L.  Russell, 

B.  Franklin  Mann, 

W.  T.  Daugherty, 

Jas.  S.  Brown. 

To  the  Rev.  B.  R.  Hall. 

Bedford,  Jan.  1*,  1838. 


Bedford,  Jan.  5,  1838. 


Gentlemen, 

A copy  of  the  Sermon  desired  in  your  note  of  Jan.  1,  1838,  is  at  your 
disposal,  with  my  thanks  for  the  honour  designed  me  by  its  publication. 
I hope  we  may  not  be  disappointed  in  our  wishes  for  its  acceptance  and 
usefulness. 

Yours,  with  kindness  and  respect, 


Messieurs  A.  King, 

Samuel  L.  Russell, 
B.  Franklin  Mann, 
VV.  T.  Daugherty, 
Jas.  S.  Brown. 


B.  R.  HALL. 


SERMON. 


no 


\<k 


« IT  IS  GOOD  FOR  A MAN  THAT  HE  BEAR  THE  YOKE  IN  HIS  YOUTH.” 

Lam.  Chap.  iii.  27. 


For  the  purposes  of  the  present  discourse,  human  life  may- 
be divided  into  three  stages : youth,  middle  life,  and  old  age. 
Measuring  by  the  time  that  we  are  under  the  authority  of 
parents,  and  afterwards  under  the  authority  of  opinion,  youth 
may  extend  from  the  period  of  incipient  infancy  to  the  vigour 
of  physical  manhood;  terminating  with  about  the  thirtieth 
year  of  life.  Then  begins  middle  life.  This,  determined  by 
defects  of  mind  and  body  becoming  ordinarily  then  visible, 
and  by  the  timidity  towards  new  enterprises,  and  the  despond- 
ency towards  the  former  then  manifested,  ends,  perhaps,  with 
our  fifty-fifth  year;  lasting,  consequently,  only  five-and-twenty 
years.  The  third  period,  old  age,  now  begun,  and  which 
under  suitable  regimen  would  generally  cease  with  the  extinc- 
tion of  life  at  threescore  and  ten  years  from  our  birth,  is,  by 
criminal  abuse  and  negligence,  usually  ended  five  or  ten  years 
earlier  than  the  assigned  limit. 

Viewing  man  as  born  for  others  as  well  as  for  himself,  as 
constituting  part  of  a divinely  organised  social  state,  or  of  a 
state  necessarily  resulting  from  his  physical  and  mental  organ- 
ization, youth  may  be  regarded  as  an  age  of  preparation,  and 
middle  life  as  an  age  of  activity : for  it  is  then  only,  in  the 
middle  state,  when  the  powers  of  our  nature  have  all  been 
properly  disciplined,  the  passions  controlled,  the  appetites 
curbed,  forbearance  practised,  and  prudence  exercised,  that 
we  are  ready  to  serve  our  generation  in  the  orderly  and  full 
discharge  of  every  duty. 


60884 


/ 


4 


It  is  here  assumed  that  young  persons,  a few  excepted  that 
are  prematurely  worthless,  all  anticipate  a time,  when  they 
shall  mingle  in  the  busy  scenes  of  the  world,  not  as  mere 
men  and  women,  or  as  spectators  at  a show,  but  to  act  their 
several  parts  as  husbands,  wives,  and  parents,  as  rulers  and 
teachers ; a time  when  they  shall  share  in  its  enterprises  and 
honours,  no  longer  humble  imitators,  but  themselves  models ; 
not  the  servants,  but  the  masters  of  opinion ; and  not  impelled 
by,  but  directing,  the  spirit  of  the  age. 

To  the  young,  therefore,  it  becomes  an  obvious  and  impor- 
tant inquiry,  “ what  preparation  can  best  jit  us  for  one  main 
end  of  our  existence , the  benefit  of  our  generation : and  how 
shall  we  become  adequate  to  discharge  all  our  duties  with  dignity 
and  success ?”  Our  present  discourse  is  designed  to  answer  in 
some  degree  this  question. 

Before,  however,  we  proceed  to  detail,  let  us  consider  one 
or  two  preparatory  remarks ; on  which,  indeed,  the  force  and 
propriety  of  our  whole  reply  entirely  depend. 

In  the  production  of  grand  effects,  not  the  single  operation 
usually  of  one  cause,  but  the  combined  and  harmonious  ope- 
ration of  several,  may  be  traced.  So  in  life,  moral,  political, 
or  any  other  good,  depends  not  on  mere  talent  or  genius,  or 
enterprise,  or  industry,  but  upon  the  union  of  all  these  and 
similar  causes.  Nay,  good  sometimes  depends  not  even  on 
the  union  of  any  active  causes,  but  upon  caution,  patience, 
disinterestedness;  and  sometimes  upon  a cessation  from  all 
attempts  and  labours.  Men  very  often  must  be  enlightened, 
soothed,  entreated,  and  led,  even  for  their  own  advantage: 
and  here  we  shall  need  all  our  passive  and  scarcely  any  of  our 
active  virtues. 

The  main  preparation,  therefore,  for  youth  is  a discipline  of 
restraint  and  self-denial. 

Knowledge  is  by  no  means  to  be  undervalued ; without 
adequate  knowledge,  no  complete  discharge  of  duty  can  ever 


occur ; yet,  while  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  is  one  end  in 
discipline,  the  young  need  more  to  be  taught  self-government, 
self-respect,  self-knowledge,  and  the  consequent  habits  and 
qualities.  Differences  in  success  are  by  no  means  so  much 
attributable  to  differences  in  talents  and  learning,  as  to  differ- 
ences in  caution,  prudence,  forethought,  self-control,  and  the 
like  habits:  and,  indeed,  it  is  in  these  habits  and  qualities  that 
boys  differ  from  men,  and  not,  so  commonly  as  is  imagined,  in 
talents,  genius,  or  even  acquirements. 

With  these  remarks  in  remembrance  you  are  now  prepared 
for  the  application  of  our  text,  in  answer  to  the  inquiry 
already  proposed. 

The  sentiment  designed  by  Jeremiah,  when  he  uttered  these 
words,  “ It  is  good  for  a man  that  he  hear  the  yoke  in  his 
youth”  was,  that  it  is  good  to  bear  affliction  in  youth : but, 
since  afflictions  are  advantageous  mainly  in  producing  self- 
denial,  self-government,  and  self-knowledge,  the  text  may  be 
fairly  extended  to  any  other  discipline  producing  similar  re- 
sults. As  the  neck,  therefore,  of  a rebellious  ox  is  bowed 
down  by  the  yoke,  and  his  vast  strength  thus  rendered  subser- 
vient to  the  master’s  purposes,  so  must  young  persons  be  sub- 
jected to  wholesome  and  severe  discipline,  that  they  may 
best  answer  the  designs  of  a benevolent  Creator  in  forming 
men  social  beings. 

1.  Young  persons  must  be  subjected,  then,  to  the  yoke  of  a 
severe  and  laborious  moral  and  intellectual  education. 

Since  a portion  of  the  young  now  present  are  in  their 
minority,  we  may  here  address  our  remarks  in  the  first  place, 
to  parents  and  guardians.  And  if  these  understand  and 
rightly  appreciate  our  prefatory  remarks,  they  see  the  justness 
in  saying  “ the  yoke  of  a severe  and  laborious  education”  But, 
unhappily,  many  parents  and  guardians  think,  that  to  impart 
knowledge  is  the  sole  purpose  and  duty  of  teachers.  Such 
persons  value  a system  of  education  only  by  its  seeming 
power  to  afford  information;  and,  usually,  if  a very  large 


G 

amount  of  what  is  deemed  knowledge  be  not  acquired  in  a 
very  short  time,  they  either  change  the  method  or  the  teacher, 
or  they  cut  short  the  children’s  education  at  its  commence- 
ment. 

But,  we  repeat  again  and  again,  that  simply  to  give  know- 
ledge is  not  the  sole  end  of  judicious  instruction ; it  is  not  even 
its  leading  end.  Were  it  possible,  which  it  is  not,  properly  to 
train  the  mental,  the  moral,  and  the  physical  nature,  and  still 
impart  absolutely  no  knowledge  whatever,  one  thus  disci- 
plined would  be  pre-eminently  better  qualified  for  the  duties 
of  the  middle  life,  than  another  of  boundless  knowledge  and 
yet  of  an  undisciplined  mind  and  heart.  The  art  of  acquiring 
and  of  arranging  and  of  applying  knowledge ; the  art  of 
thinking  and  reasoning  and  concluding;  the  art  of  prompt 
acting  on  occasions  and  in  emergencies : these  and  similar 
most  delicate  and  difficult  arts, — arts,  in  which  these  twattling 
and  conceited  days  have  made  no  improvements, — these  are 
the  true  ends  of  intellectual  and  moral  discipline.  Hence  even 
the  very  instruments  of  this  discipline,  like  the  means  often 
used  to  strengthen  the  human  frame,  to  give  grace  to  the 
person  and  dignity  to  the  deportment,  are  often  with  safety 
laid  aside  after  they  have  subserved  their  uses:  and  hence 
many  individuals  having  in  the  noble  and  honourable  and 
difficult  duties  of  life  ample  employment  for  the  full  exercise 
of  all  their  powers,  feel  no  longer  the  need  of  the  same  studies 
and  exercises  that  disciplined  their  youth.* 

Is  it  asked  by  parents  and  guardians  what  constitutes  the 
severe  education  now  discussed?  We  reply: — 1st.,  that  mere 
children  should  be  taught  among  other  matters  self-denial,  self- 
government,  and  the  like,  together  with  the  elementary  parts 
of  simple  sciences  and  arts,  always  where  possible  at  home, 
and  usually,  but  not  exclusively,  by  the  mothers:  and  2dly., 
that  as  soon  as  the  bodily  health  will  admit,  (the  advice  of 


* Where  the  duties  of  life  will  admit,  all  educated  men,  as  well  as  profes- 
sional scholars,  will  be  fully  compensated,  however,  by  continuing'  and  ex- 
tending1 their  acquaintance  with  the  classics  and  the  mathematics. 


7 


competent  physicians  here  being  asked,)  children,  both  male  and 
female,  should  be  placed  under  learned  and  religious  precep- 
tors to  complete  a course,  and  that  no  stinted  one,  of  what  is 
usually  termed  the  classics  and  the  mathematics.* 

We  shall  now,  howrever,  address  those  young  persons  pre- 
sent, freed  by  consent  or  by  law  from  the  parental  authority. 

Without  adverting  to  your  previous  opportunities,  your  edu- 
cation must  now  be  completed  by  yourselves;  and  in  some 
instances  must  even  be  commenced.  But  this  need  occasion 
no  uneasiness;  because,  in  the  first  place,  it  is  often  a decided 
advantage  never  to  have  had  what  is  sometimes  called  school- 
ing; and  in  the  second  place,  after  all,  that  part  of  our  edu- 
cation which  may  properly  be  considered  our  self-education 
is  decidedly  the  most  valuable.  Nay,  persons  almost  wholly 
self-educated,  have  very  often  become  the  most  distinguished. 

It  is,  indeed,  a truly  pitiable  sight  to  behold  many  young 
people  indolently  lamenting  the  want  of  schools  and  teachers 
and  favourable  opportunities,  when  all  can  do  so  much  for 
their  own  improvement,  and  not  a few  can  do  more  for  them- 
selves than  the  vast  majority  of  common  schools  could  do  for 
them.  If  the  young  would  only  seriously  set  about  the  work 
of  self-instruction,  even  with  the  poorest  materials  and  instru- 
ments, they  would  be  amazed  at  their  progress  in  all  that  is 
valuable,  and  with  what  unexpected  success  they  had  over- 
come difficulties  seemingly  at  first  invincible.  But  let  such 
distinctly  remember  the  end  of  all  discipline,  that  it  is  not  the 
mere  acquisition  of  knowledge,  but  the  exercise  of  the  mind. 
Hence,  if  after  even  severe  study,  we  fail  to  comprehend  fully, 
we  have  still  gained  the  main  object  of  our  efforts,  practice  in 
thinking.  The  very  exertion  made  and  repeated  again  and 
again  is  of  vast  price,  even  if  we  should  be  for  the  present 
utterly  defeated : and  this  habit  of  the  soul,  thus  dearly  bought, 
will,  under  different  circumstances,  make  one  master  of  many 


* The  experience  of  the  author  and  his  observations,  independent  of  all 
reasoning  on  this  point,  make  him  confident,  that  the  best  morals  as  well  as 
the  best  learning,  are  the  results  of  the  good  old  course  recommended  above. 


8 


difficult  subjects.  Let  the  young,  therefore,  begin  with  fit  sub- 
jects of  discipline  in  the  best  w7ay  possible ; let  them  persevere, 
and  as  ability  and  knowledge  increase,  let  them  extend  and 
systematize  their  labours,  correct  their  errors  and  seize  all 
accessible  aids,  and  in  despite  even  of  no  previous  education, 
we  shall  see  all  happier,  and  not  a few  elevated  to  higher 
walks  in  life,  than  otherwise  they  are  ever  destined  to  reach.* 

One  reason  why  we  so  often  condemn  the  reading  of  ficti- 
tious works  may  now  be  seen.  To  such  works,  as  far  as 
ordinary  readers  are  concerned,  there  are  many  objections: 
their  tendency  is  usually  immoral;  they  vitiate  taste;  they 
misinform  us;  they  give  false  and  exaggerated  views  of  indi- 
viduals, presenting  mere  fancy  pictures  of  aggregated  virtues 
and  vices;  they  defile  the  imagination  and  inflame  the  pas- 
sions ; they  beget  a disgust  of  daily  and  common  life. — But  the 
objection  now  urged  is,  that  such  works  are  not  difficult 
enough  for  studies,  and  are  indeed,  even  by  their  authors, 
designed  solely  for  amusement.  Where  young  persons,  there- 
fore, are  seeking  to  improve,  and  especially  such  as  have  little 
previous  cultivation,  and  need  all  their  time  and  money  for 
nobler  purposes,  to  these  we  give  as  our  most  deliberate 
advice,  that  this  very  night  they  ought  honestly  to  collect  and 
burn  without  mercy  all  their  novels  and  romances;  and  with 
the  end  of  the  year  discontinue  those  newspapers,  the  sole 
recommendation  of  which  is  their  “ original  and  selected 
stories  and  tales.” 

2.  Young  persons  must,  in  the  second  place,  submit  to  the 
yoke  of  good  society. 

We  cannot  study  always.  Recreation  is  necessary  to  digest 
our  mental  as  well  as  our  corporal  food.  Some  things,  too, 


* Studies  recommended  are,  Arithmetic,  Algebra,  the  higher  Mathematics: 
Natural  and  Mechanical  sciences  : Latin,  Greek,  French,  and  German  lan- 
guages: the  English  classics,  such  as  Addison,  Shakspeare,  (not  as  a mere 
writer  of  plays,)  Milton,  &c. : Political  Economy:  Mental  and  Moral  Philo- 
sophy: Composition,  &c.  &c. : above  all,  the  Bible. 


9 


can  be  learned  only  from  our  observation  and  from  the  testi- 
mony of  others.  It  is  also  important  to  see  models  in  the 
discharge  of  public  and  domestic  duties:  and  we  are  long 
compelled  to  float  with  the  tide  of  opinion  before  we  may 
venture  successfully  to  stem  it.  In  short,  for  many  reasons, 
society  is  necessary  to  us : and  no  pleasures  are  more  exciting 
than  those  of  companionship.  And  yet  it  is  precisely  here  that 
the  young  are  in  danger  especially  of  losing  all  the  advantages 
of  private  discipline,  and  of  contracting  habits  fatal  to  all  their 
expected  success.  To  them  there  is  no  safety  except  in 
good  society;  and  without  that,  they  had  better  be  without 
any. 

Good  society  is  indeed  severe  in  its  external  appearance ; 
and  hence  the  young  rarely  seek  such,  regarding  it  as  a mere 
hinderance  to  hilarity  and  pleasure:  but  if  we  are  seriously 
seeking  improvement,  we  must  at  all  times  be  found  in  this 
company.  With  such  we  must  ride,  or  walk,  or  play,  or  see 
paintings,  or  hear  music,  or  attend  elections  or  innocent 
amusements,  or  do  any  of  the  lawful  acts  of  life:  and  occa- 
sions innumerable  will  arise,  of  asking  advice  and  hearing 
opinions  on  religion,  politics,  literature,  the  fine  arts  and 
sciences,  and  of  obtaining  hints  and  directions  on  important 
pursuits  and  studies;  we  shall  find  a thousand  knotty  diffi- 
culties solved  and  perplexing  intricacies  unravelled,  see  many 
living  exemplars  of  our  written  rules,  and,  finally,  among 
other  benefits,  become  strengthened  in  our  correct  conclusions 
and  rectified  in  our  erroneous  ones. 

Is  it  asked,  what  is  good  company?  Without  any  negative 
description,  we  reply,  by  good  society  is  meant,  the  best  edu- 
cated and  disciplined;  the  most  moral,  prudent,  sober,  and 
religious;  in  a word,  the  best  citizens.  We  believe,  too,  that 
good  society  is  still  better  when  composed  of  both  men  and 
women.  Nor  is  the  contemptible  frivolity  of  most  mixed 
companies  any  objection  to  our  remark ; for  if  women  were 
all  educated  as  they  might  and  should  be,  and,  we  are  per- 
suaded, will  be,  no  society  could  be  so  pleasant,  so  honourable, 
so  elevating,  as  that  in  which  these  women  formed  a part. 

2 


10 


Well  educated  women  never  would  or  could  form  a part 
where  men.  vicious,  rude,  and  foolish,  obtained  or  even  ex- 
pected admission. 

Let  none  say,  good  society  is  difficult  to  find;  because  it 
exists  larger  or  smaller  in  every  community.  Nor  let  any 
say,  it  is  impossible  to  get  admittance  into  it:  for  although 
this  society  has  its  barriers  and  restraints,  it  has  none  other 
than  utility,  virtue,  patriotism,  and  religion  itself,  impose;  and 
if  truly  good,  it  voluntarily  opens  its  very  bosom  to  the  young, 
being  grieved  by  their  refusal,  and  not  by  their  attempt,  to 
enter. 

3.  In  the  third  place,  the  young  must  wear,  and  that  con- 
stantly, the  yoke  of  temperance. 

Intemperance  from  intoxicating  liquors,  so  common,  alas ! 
is  doubtless  from  that  circumstance,  the  first,  and  with  most 
of  my  hearers,  the  only  kind  supposed  to  be  now  meant. 
Prevalent  and  mournful  as  this  vice  is,  what  wonder  that  so 
many,  so  very  many,  should  against  this  rock  dash  all  their 
hopes  of  peace,  usefulness,  and  honour!  The  grand,  and  in 
numerous  instances  the  sole  lesson  taught  the  young  is,  “ to 
drink.”  To  this  they  are  welcomed  with  smiles  and  wheedled 
by  flattery;  yea,  are  often  assured  that  to  drink  frequently  and 
largely,  is  one  evidence  of  an  independent  soul  and  generous 
disposition.  The  houses  where  we  visit,  the  hotels  that  re- 
fresh us,  the  stores  where  we  deal,  the  places  of  our  recrea- 
tion ; the  men  that  frame  our  laws  and  the  men  that  execute ; 
the  philosopher,  the  patriot,  and,  may  I not  add,  in  some  cases 
the  divine ; even  lovely  woman  with  misapplied  entreaties ; 
ah!  even  the  fathers  on  whose  knees  we  have  sported  in  in- 
fancy, and  the  very  mothers  from  whose  bosom  we  have 
drawn  our  sustenance ; — these,  all  these,  in  a thousand  ways, 
mix,  and  dilute,  and  sweeten,  and  render  fragrant  with  spices 
and  sparkling  with  beauty  the  bowl — the  damned  bowl — to 
overcome  our  natural  distaste,  to  subdue  our  shame,  to  abate 
our  fears,  to  lull  our  conscience,  to  make  us  most  abandoned, 
most  infatuated,  most  heaven-daring  sinners. 


11 


We  stay  not  to  prove ; for  all  know  how  drunkenness  de- 
bilitates the  body,  poisons  the  breath,  enervates  the  soul, 
brutalizes  the  appetites — yea,  transforms  man  into  the  very 
brute.  We  too  well  know,  that  drunkards,  should  they  even 
reach  the  middle  life,  become  objects  of  pity  to  the  good,  of 
scorn  to  the  proud,  of  grief  to  their  friends,  mere  examples 
of  warning  and  beacons  of  danger  to  the  sober,  and  how,  at 
last,  the  groaning  community  feels  in  a measure  refreshed, 
when  the  bloated  and  unseemly  bodies  are  covered  in  the 
grave. 

Temperance,  therefore,  nay,  entire  abstinence  from  what 
intoxicates,  must  be  rigorously  practised  by  the  young;  and 
yet  this  species  of  temperance  is  not  the  sole  one  now  recom- 
mended. Our  desires,  our  appetites,  our  passions,  in  the  use 
of  things  innocent  and  pleasant,  must  be  studiously  moderated  ; 
because  this  self-denial  and  control  are  the  means  of  affording 
health,  time,  money,  and  spirits  for  our  very  studies,  and  is 
itself  one  paramount  design  of  our  very  discipline.  Would 
we  ensure  success?  then  we  must  be  temperate  in  all  things; 
in  eating,  in  apparel,  in  recreation,  in  the  enjoyments  even  of 
good  society,  in  study  itself : and  then  shall  we  be  well  fitted 
for  many  duties  of  middle  life,  and  obtain,  even  at  the  time, 
high  degrees  of  self-satisfaction  and  peace. 

4.  Again,  I would  remark,  in  the  fourth  place,  that,  not  a 
little  from  experience,  and  much  from  observation  and  also 
from  the  nature  of  the  divine  economy  in  the  government  of 
the  world,  I am  fully  satisfied,  that  the  preceding  directions, 
few  and  general  as  they  are,  must  and  will,  if  faithfully 
obeyed,  place  a man  in  after  life  upon  elevated  ground  among 
the  virtuous  and  honourable:  but  if  we  would  be  certain  of 
success,  and  if  we  would  aspire  to  rewards  nobler  than  the 
emoluments  of  place  and  the  approbation  of  men,  if  we  would 
be  had  in  everlasting  and  distinguished  remembrance  when 
mere  worldly  great  men  shall  have  been  forgotten,  then  must 
we  wear  in  youth  the  easy  yoke  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ’s 
moral  and  intellectual  discipline.  Without  that  yoke  men 


12 


may  and  very  often  do  by  other  discipline  become  extensively 
useful  to  their  fellows,  and  obtain  merited  honours  and  re- 
spect ; because  God  permits  men  to  gain  their  proposed 
rewards : but  if  in  addition  to  perishing,  we  would  gain 
immortal  ones,  nay,  if  we  would  become,  as  we  have  inti- 
mated, entirely  certain  of  even  perishing  rewards,  then  must 
we  become  submissive  disciples  in  the  school  of  Christ. 

5.  But  I must  hasten  to  mention,  in  the  last  place,  a means 
of  discipline  not  employed  in  the  schools,  nor  found  in  books, 
nor  applied  by  ourselves ; a discipline  unpleasant  indeed  to  all 
and  specially  so  to  the  young,  but  one  of  incalculable  value 
and  productive  of  the  sweetest  fruits — I mean  affliction. 

Before  a man  is  really  fitted  for  life,  whatever  be  his  mental 
powers  and  acquisitions,  or  his  personal  dignity  and  comeli- 
ness, or  all  his  adventitious  qualities,  he  needs  many  severe 
lessons  to  transform  his  very  nature : he  must  know  himself ; 
his  self-conceit  must  be  eradicated,  his  haughtiness  humbled, 
his  impatience  subdued,  his  presumption  chastised,  his  watch- 
fulness aroused,  his  indolence  punished,  his  selfishness  dis- 
carded. To  accomplish  all  these  arduous  tasks — each  an 
herculean  labour — affliction  is  the  only  competent  discipline : 
and  that  is  God’s  blessed  mode  of  instructing  his  own  children. 

Yet  be  it  distinctly  noticed,  afflictions  will  do  us  no  good, 
unless  we  are  patient  and  observant  of  their  end  and  uses. 
Properly  used,  they  are  a blessing ; improperly,  a curse.  Let 
the  young,  therefore,  in  all  disappointments,  or  deluded  hopes, 
or  sickness,  or  poverty,  or  reproach,  or  bereavement,  or  sor- 
rows of  any  sort,  be  well  assured  that  a merciful  and  wise 
Creator  is  thus  showing,  not  merely  his  anger  at  sin,  but  his 
desire  to  discipline  men  for  the  noble  purposes  of  the  social 
state  and  for  the  rewards  of  the  future : so  that  in  the  latter 
days,  all  may  say  in  the  leading  sense  of  our  text, — 44  It  is 
good  for  a man  that  he  hear  the  yoke  in  his  youth” 

From  what  has  been  said  we  may  infer  that  it  is  good  to 
bear  the  yoke  in  youth  for  the  following  out  of  many  reasons: — 


13 


1.  It  answers  the  end  designed  and  nothing  else  will.  For 
want  of  discipline  men  can  encounter  only  disappointments 
and  chagrin.  Without  this,  in  presumptuous  haste  they  en- 
gage in  schemes  infeasible,  or  beyond  their  capacities,  or 
demanding  more  skill  and  prudence  than  they  possess;  and 
hence,  after  a few  defeats,  they  yield  to  other  persons,  inferior 
often  in  native  talents,  but  superior  in  tact,  forethought,  and 
patience.  Happy  if  the  defeated  could  retire  with  good 
grace ; but  retiring  with  feelings  of  mortified  pride  and 
vanity,  they  sink  into  the  lower  levels,  and  there  vent  malig- 
nant spleen  in  endeavours  to  drag  down  the  others  and  to 
blacken  their  characters.  We  all  have  remarked  this  an 
hundred  times ; and  we  now,  without  any  claim  to  the  pro- 
phetic spirit,  can  plainly  foresee,  that,  unless  God’s  renovating 
Spirit  prevent  necessary  consequences  from  his  own  abused 
laws,  the  idle,  lounging,  trifling  young  persons  here  or  else- 
where, must  descend  down  the  scale  of  honourable  repu- 
tation to  the  snarling  and  captious  maligners,  or  at  best,  to 
be  classed  as  mere  instruments  to  be  used,  and  slaves  to 
be  ordered,  according  to  the  wisdom  and  will  of  the  well- 
disciplined. 

2.  To  bear  the  yoke  in  youth  is  good,  because  it  is  so 
truly  noble.  Contrast  one  that  bears  it  with  one  that  does 
not,  only  in  a few  particulars:  the  first  is  sober  and  cheerful, 
the  second  frivolous;  the  one  cultivates  the  soul,  the  other 
pampers  the  body;  the  one  lives  for  his  fellows,  the  other 
solely  for  himself.  The  disciplined  person  is  lord  of  his 
appetites  and  passions,  the  undisciplined  is  the  mere  slave 
of  their  clamorous  demands;  in  a word,  the  former  does 
every  thing  that  lifts  him  up  towards  the  angels,  the  latter, 
every  thing  that  thrusts  him  down  towards  the  devils. 

3.  Again,  the  course  prescribed  this  evening,  will,  if  fol- 
lowed, prolong  the  period  of  middle  life  far  into  the  period  of 
old  age. 

Proper  care  of  the  body  and  the  avoidance  of  all  excesses 


14 


in  diet  will,  as  we  all  know,  make  the  human  frame  more 
lasting;  but  the  discipline  in  question  will  retard  for  many 
years  the  mental  imbecility  of  old  age,  and,  generally,  will 
prevent  any  degree  of  that  weakness  in  the  form  of  dotage 
and  second  infancy.  No  fact  in  the  history  of  man  is  better 
attested  than  that  our  minds  prematurely  fail,  simply  because 
of  disuse ; and  our  minds  must  always  be  disused  if  we 
have  never  in  youth  acquired  habits  of  thinking  and  studying. 
Much  learning  in  cases  of  physical  weakness  may,  perhaps, 
have  made  some  “mad;”  but  beyond  a doubt  the  want  of 
all  learning  has  in  old  age,  when  the  bustle  and  stir  of  the 
middle  state  are  past,  rendered  many  thus.  Very  many 
literary  persons  by  preserving  studious  habits  to  the  last,  have 
reached  extreme  old  age,  with  the  perceptible  loss  or  even 
decay  of  no  mental  power;  whilst  a few  such,  from  some 
chance  or  indolence,  having  discontinued  their  studies,  have 
exhibited  symptoms  of  premature  weakness,  and  even  of 
idiocy. 

4.  How  good  a thing  in  old  age,  to  reflect  that  one  sub- 
mitted to  the  yoke  in  his  youth ! By  that  he  has  been  able 
to  discharge  with  honour  and  satisfaction  to  himself,  so  many 
duties  profitable  to  his  fellow-men!  By  that  he  has  nobly 
won  the  veneration  always  paid  to  a hoary  head  after  a well- 
spent  life  ! How  calm  the  evening  of  such  a life  ! How  unlike 
the  picture  of  gloom  falsely  thought  to  be  necessarily  that  of 
declining  years ! 

5.  Lastly,  if  one  has  lived  as  is  here  supposed,  and  has 
worn  the  yoke  of  Christian  discipline ; how  blessed,  not 
merely  the  retrospect  of  the  past,  but  the  anticipation  of  the 
future ; what  joys  are  his  in  contemplating  an  assured  reward, 
a crown  of  glory  and  honour ; and  whilst  he  has  a heart  to 
accomplish  yet  many  good  things  for  his  generation,  how  he 
even  longs  for  the  coming  of  a messenger,  ghastly  and  terrific 
to  the  faithless,  but  to  the  wise  servant  an  angel  of  mercy, 
smiling,  glorious,  and  welcome. 


15 


Such,  young  men  and  women,  are  a few  leading  directions 
in  answer  to  our  proposed  inquiry ; and  such,  a few  of  the 
many  advantages  resulting  from  the  discipline  enjoined.  What 
shall  be  the  effect  of  this  evening’s  instructions  upon  you  ? 
We  dare  not  hope  all  here  will  be  benefited ; mournful 
experience  of  the  almost  invincible  levity  and  the  presump- 
tuous and  arrogant  confidence  of  too  many  young  people, 
forbids  that  hope ; nay,  bids  us  fear  derision  and  even  scorn 
from  some  that  we  would  fain  help. 

Is  it  too  much,  however,  to  believe  that  some  in  this  most 
interesting  assembly  have,  as  they  listened,  come  to  solemn 
and  fixed  resolutions  to  begin  the  course  this  night  recom- 
mended? It  must  be  so.  Surely  some  of  those  present  look 
soberly  upon  their  weighty  responsibilities;  surely  some  are 
burning  with  a sacred  ardour  to  discharge  with  honour  and 
success  the  noble  duties  of  life;  surely  some  are  captivated 
by  the  picture  of  moral  grandeur  pertaining  to  the  disinter- 
ested performance  of  those  duties  and  to  the  dignified  de- 
meanour of  Christian  meekness  under  the  ingratitude  of  the 
wicked;  surely  some  here  abhor  being  mere  drones  in  the 
political  hive,  or  mere  tools  to  be  employed  by  others,  or, 
instead  of  standing  forth  in  bold  relief  amidst  the  architec- 
ture of  society,  to  become  hateful  excrescences  on  the  body 
politic,  then  to  be  cut  off  by  public  sentiment,  by  loss  of 
liberty,  or  perhaps  by  the  sword  of  justice.  It  must  be  that 
some  here,  looking  onward  to  the  realities  of  old  age,  desire, 
then,  the  retrospect  of  a well-spent  life  and  the  joyous  expec- 
tations of  a life  to  come. 

By  all  these  your  lofty  and  holy  purposes  this  night  formed ; 
by  the  demands  of  the  coming  generation,  destined  to  be 
either  the  better  or  the  worse  from  your  conduct;  by  the 
preciousness  of  our  liberties,  bought  with  blood,  liberties  to  be 
transmitted  to  posterity  by  your  virtues  and  knowledge,  or 
lost  by  your  vices  and  ignorance ; by  the  majesty  of  a nature 
fitted  for  duty  and  for  the  endurance  of  suffering  and  trial ; 
by  the  baseness  and  cowardice  of  sloth;  by  all  the  peace  and 


joy  that  gladden  the  otherwise  cheerless  days  of  old  a"e  • 
by  your  desires  of  finding  in  death  peace  and  joy;  by  your 
regard  of  the  Supreme  Judge,  who  shall  say  in  the  day  of 
ina  judgment  to  his  faithful  servants,  “ well  done,  enter  ye 
into  the  joy  of  your  Lord, ” and  to  the  unfaithful  ones,  “ depart 
ye  accursed:”— by  all  these,  I now  do  exhort  and  impure 
you,  young  men  and  women,  immediately  to  put  on  and 
submissively  wear  that  yoke  which  inspiration  teaches,  and 
all  experience  confirms,  it  is  good  for  a man  to  bear  in  his 
youth. — Amen. 


